The Holiday
by Athineath
Summary: Arthur is in love with a man who is engaged. Across the pond, Matthew finds out that the man he lives with has been cheating on him. They meet online at a home exchange website and switch homes for the holiday-Arthur moves into Matthew's L.A. house as Matthew arrives in Surrey, England. Shortly after both men find the last thing either wanted: a new romance. USUK and PruCan
1. The Truth About Love

**A/N: Hi guys! Wow, I haven't been on here in a while, eh? To make up for that in a weird-ish way, here's a new holiday inspired fic! I hope the summary for it wasn't too sucky but if you've read this far, I'm adding a betters summary below. Please enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Arthur Kirkland is in love with a man who is about to get married. Across the Pond, Matthew Williams realizes the man he lives with has been cheating on him. To men who have never met and live 6,000 miles apart, find themselves in the exact same place. They meet online at a home exchange website and impulsively switch homes for the holiday. Arthur moves into Matthew's L.A. home in sunny California as Matthew arrives in the snow covered English countryside. Shortly after arriving at their destinations, both men find the last thing either wants or expects: a new romance. Matthew is charmed by Arthur's handsome best friend Gilbert Beilschmidt, and Arthur, with inspiration provided by legendary actress Amelia Allen, mends his heart when he meets Matthew's brother Alfred F. Jones.<strong>

**This Hetalia adaption of The Holiday may seem a bit different, but it will contain just as much holiday spirit, romance, and gumption as the actual film!**

* * *

><p>{Chapter One: Arthur's POV}<p>

Love is special, different from what people may think. The Doctor once said that love is a promise. I haven't experienced love that way, but the episode that line is from showed me that it can happen. Shakespeare once said that love is blind. Now this I know to be true.

There are many forms of love. There is the love that everyone hopes to find. For some, love has inexplicably gone away over time. For others, love is simply lost. Then there are those whom love has hurt. The ones who feel in love on their own. This is unrequited love, and you are listing to one such victim.

People focus on the stories of people falling in love with each other. Well, what about us? The walking wounded. The handicapped without the advantage of a great parking space. My half of the story is this, the story that needs to be told. My story of willing loving one man, Francis Boneboy, for three miserable years. The worst three years of my life spent loving a man who refuses to love me back! Oh the site of his blonde hair and blue eyes…heart pounding, throat thickening, absolutely can't swallow. Oh that arsehole.

"Francis again?" Gilbert asked as I grabbed his beer mug and took a long gulp.

"Yes," I growled. I could see him, ignoring me like he doesn't notice me starting at him. "Does it look like I'm crying?"

"No, no it just looks like the effects from my cigarette smoke. Arthur, I will see you two together right?"

"What?"

"I mean, he cheated on you but you stayed friends."

"Well I was in love with him. Head over heels even. It's hard you see, we…we email, when he's not with her of course. Also when he's not with her we'll talk on the phone, sometimes for hours! Then there's the occasional long lunch…"

"Gott you're so pathetic."

"Don't I know it."

Gilbert sighed. "Arthur, what exactly are you doing?"

"Gil…"

"Arthur, when you catch your guy cheating on you, you are supposed to stay friends with the arscholoch! You're supposed to throw things at him, call him names!"

"Am I interrupting something?" An all too familiar French accent asked.

"Not at all!" I instantly replied.

"Wonderful. I've wanted to talk to you, Arthur," Francis said smiling at me.

"Excuse me I'll leave you two alone," Gilbert muttered glaring at Francis.

"Is he alright?" Francis asked.

"Yes, perfectly fine," I replied leaning against Gilbert's desk as I felt my knees starting to go weak. "What did you want to me about?"

"Anything and everything, really. I miss talking to you mon cher. Oh and I got you a Christmas present."

"That's convenient because I got you one too! It's in my office."

"Oh, mon cher, I don't actually have it with me now. I must've misplaced it somewhere. Want to know what it is?"

I sighed, feeling the tears coming. Here we go again. "No, that's alright. I'll get mine to you later then." Unfortunately (for fortunately) our boss's voice ran out calling us to crowd in together. As we filed out of the offices I lost track of Francis, so I followed the crowd.

"Before we go out on our Christmas holiday, I'd like to make an announcement," Roma explained. "This involves Arthur Kirkland…Arthur, where are you?"

"I'm over here!" I called lifting my arm up for him to see.

"Ah yes! Well Arthur, I've got a tip for you! A wedding was privately announced that no other newspaper in town has heard about and I want you to be the first to cover it! It is my pleasure to announce Jeanne Alcott and Francis Bonefoy!"

As I heard Roma call their names, I could feel my heart break. _'He's marrying her?!' _I thought. _'The girl he cheated on me with! Not ready for a commitment my arse!'_

"Arthur…I'm sorry…" I could hear Gilbert whisper.

"No…no I'm fine, I'm fine," I replied waving him off. I then made my way back home to my small cottage, not letting a single tear spill over. But as I slammed by front door a sob escaped. "Why?!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Welp, here it is! I hope you guy enjoy this fic as much as I will writing it. And if you love the movie The Holiday, you'll get why I wrote this ^_^**

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	2. Private Affair

{Chapter Two: Matthew's POV}

"Matthew!" Carlos called, stomping up the stairs. "Matthew please listen to me!"

"I'll listen when you tell me the truth!" I yelled in response opening my bedroom door and chucking a shoe at him. Unfortunately he ducked and then glared at me.

"Matthew, I didn't sleep with her."

"Oh yes, because you were out with my brother all night long?"

"I was, Mattie, you've got to believe me!"

"I talked to my brother Carlos! He was with Natalia last night!"

"Matthew, she's just trying to make Ivan jealous, we both know that. She wouldn't want to be around him more than she has to. He was obviously with me."

"Oh shut up. I believe my own brother way more than I believe you, hoser."

"You can't be serious."

"He's my brother! How can I not be! You know what; I'm so done with this."

"You're done now? We've been having problems for the last year and you're done now? I know you don't like to accept that-"

"I'm well aware that we've had problems for the last year. This is why I refused to marry you, and why I told you not to get rid of your house!"

"Seriously Matthew this isn't my entire fault. You know it's not."

"Really? So, I can't stay out hanging out with my brother past ten at night, but you can stay out all night long having sex with some random floozy?! This IS your entire fault!"

"I never do that Matthew!"

"Get out!"

"Matthew…"

"I said get out! I am through with all this…this lying and cheating. Don't you realize that I'd never cheat on you Carlos? Never!"

"And neither would I Matthew-"

"Out now!" I threw Carlos's car keys at him and then slammed the door in his face.

"You know what! I did sleep with her, okay? Are you happy now?"

I opened the door in rage. "Excuse me?! Did you say am I happy?!"

"Yeah I did!"

I wonder if his broken nose has heeled yet…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hi guys! I know I posted yesterday but I've watched The Holiday about five times so far so I'm currently binge writing this fic. And here I must give credit where credit is due:**

**The Holiday is a film by Nancy Meyers and belongs to Columbia Pictures and Universal Studios**

**Hetalia is an anime that belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya**

**Only the idea to write this fanfic and this crappy laptop it's being written on belong to me. The story line belongs to The Holiday crew and the Hetalia characters belong to Himaruya.**

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	3. Holiday Plans

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or The Holiday. They both belong to their respective owners.**

**A/N: Just a forewarning for this chapter. Like in the movie when they're on the chat part of the house rental site, what Matthew typed is in italics and what Arthur typed is in bold. E-mails/texts will be underlined.**

* * *

><p>{Chapter Three: Normal POV}<p>

Matthew sighed as he stared at the Google search bar. "Where do I want to go for Christmas? Alone for Christmas…all alone…Okay, moving on." He typed "vacation spots" into his computer and clicked search. "Hmm…vacation rentals? I could do that. Okay 'Choose a country for your vacation'. Where do they speak English…aha! England, wonderful. Okay now a city…oh Surrey sounds cute. 'Spend your holidays is charming Surrey. Curl up on the sofa with a book and a cup of cocoa in this enchanting countryside cottage, just forty minutes outside of exciting London.'" As Matthew glanced over the picture of the cottage one more time, he click on the 'Chat with Owner' button and sent his message.

Meanwhile in Surrey…

Arthur tried to hold back his constant tears but another sob escaped. Surprisingly his laptop beeps, springing Arthur into his normal action. "Is that…a rental request?" he asked quietly to himself. He had a chat from someone named Matthew.

_Matthew: Hello. I was wondering if your cottage is available for rental this holiday._

_Matthew: I know it's late but if possible, you could be a life saver._

**Arthur: Hullo. No, it's not too late but I'm afraid it's only available for home exchange.**

**Arthur: That's where we switch homes, cars, everything.**

**Arthur: Where are you?**

_Matthew: L.A._

**Arthur: I've always wanted to go there. I'm Arthur by the way.**

_Matthew: I'm Matthew._

_Matthew: I must say your house is just what I need._

**Arthur: Really? That's wonderful! What does your house look like?**

_Matthew: It's nice, but a little bigger than yours._

**Arthur: Well it's not hard to be.**

_Matthew: Can I ask you something?_

**Arthur: Of course!**

_Matthew: Are there any men in your town?_

**Arthur: Honestly? Zero.**

_Matthew: When can I come!_

**Arthur: Is tomorrow too soon?**

_Matthew: Tomorrow's perfect!_

**Arthur: Oh brilliant! Then we are on, for two weeks!**

Arthur sat in his middle seat, watching the plane starting to get crowded. He sighed watching couples, old and young, coming on. As the seats on either side of him got taken by two lovely older women his phone started to buzz. It was a text from Francis.

From: Francis Bonefoy

Subject:

Heard you left for holiday in Los Angeles. Congratulations on your first vacation in almost four years. How do I reach you?

Francis

Arthur stared at his phone screen, closing his eyes to prevent the oncoming storm of tears. Then, he sent his reply:

To: Francis Bonefoy

Subject:

Francis,

We both know that its proper time for me to fall out of love with you. It would be great if you would let me try.

Arthur

Matthew took in a deep breath as he put in his ear buds, checking his email and text messages for anything close to an apology from Carlos. Not that he was expecting much seeing as it had only been a day. In reality, he wasn't expecting anything. The stupid hose was probably stripping his head barista. Matthew groaned as he set his phone to airplane mode. What in the glorious name of maple syrup was he doing? He had it all. He had a wonderful job as an amazing player in the NHL. He had a huge house in L.A. He had a gorgeous, exotic boyfriend who could spend outrageous amounts of money on him. And on a whim he traded it all to be a no body in snowy England…maybe it was time for him to figure out what he didn't have.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hi guys!~ Sorry it took me so long to update. I've actually had this chapter finished for a bit but I thought I already posted it so yeah...I'm having mental issues the closer I get to finals. Speaking of finals! I have an announcement. I have finals next week, the 15-17. Therefore I will not be able to work or update any fanfiction until the night of the 17th. Even then, I'll probably be eating a crap ton of Mexican food with my friends to celebrate us surviving finals then sleeping (like a normal high schooler for once holy crapcakes!). Anywhositable, I hope y'all enjoy this chapter and hope you see you lot next week...ish.**


	4. Home Sweet Home

**A/N: Hullo you lot, I'm baaaaaack! Wow I apparently take forever to update, eh? Sorry /).(\ I feel terrible. It's just, finals took forever for three days, and then I was shoved into Christmas by the family because apparently we're having ten people over instead of six and we found out my great-aunt/favourite aunt has bone cancer but we're not 100% sure when she'll die but we know she's dying and I just...too much life and not enough time. This is the only time of year I'm somewhat social and that has taken time out of my writing schedule -_- Supah annoying**

**Anywho, pah-leeze ignore my awful rant because HAPPY HOLIDAYS MY LOVES~ Naturally I'm not sure what all of you celebrate but I hope whatever you do during the rest of the holiday season is wonderful and magical and I love you all so dearly.**

**A huge fat thanks to you for reading this-the story and my supah long author's note.**

**Also, a huge fat thanks to anyone who favourited or followed this story. That means sooooooo much to me.**

**Two more GINORMOUS fat thanks to Dawnie Otaku and Rebylee. I'm glad you're both enjoying The Holiday Hetaliafied. I'm enjoying writing it XD**

**And Rebylee, love, I hope this chapter is a wonderful Christmas present for you. Do keep in touch, your review made my awful holiday season ^_^**

**Ciao, Athineath~**

* * *

><p>{Chapter Four: Normal POV}<p>

To say that Arthur was shocked would be an understatement. Matthew's house was huge! When the cabbie pulled up to the gate, Arthur's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Is this the correct address?" He asked the cabbie.

"Yes sir, this is the exact address you gave me," the cabbie replied.

"Bloody hell," was his only response.

The inside was better than the outside according to Arthur's opinion. It was spacious filled with top of the line furniture and appliances, not that Arthur would be using the kitchen. It would be rude to burn down the house you were staying in (plus Matthew did have a private chef who seemed pleasant enough).

Arthur ran around the house, stopping in each room, and _giggled! _ And then he saw the bedroom. Oh the bedroom was glorious. It was huge with a California-king sized bed in between two large windows and covered in silk sheets. Just one look made Arthur want to jump right in, which in fact he did – or, well he jumped right _on_ it.

_'If this is what Matthew is used to I wonder how he's doing in Rosehill Cottage?' _Arthur wondered to himself as he was engulfed by the amazingly soft sheets.

* * *

><p>The chauffeur put the car in park and stared slightly annoyed at the "sleeping" figure of the American lying in the back seat. "Sir?" he said. "Sir?" he said again, louder.<p>

Matthew sat right up. "Yes?"

"We're here sir."

Matthew rolled down the back window and glared at the church graveyard he was staring at. "This can't be it."

"It's not, but I'll never be able to turn the car around at the end. Can you make it that far?"

"Not since high school."

* * *

><p>"Stupid British, I thought the French were supposed to be the rude ones!" Matthew grumbled as he dragged his suitcase through the snow. This holiday season was definitely his worst ever. Why the hell did he decide to fly to freezing cold England anyway?! And why was he complaining? He used to live in freeze your ass off Canada for maple's sake! Unfortunately for Matthew while he was having his pity party he neglected to notice the frozen patch of mud in front of him, therefore he slipped the instant his foot made contact. "Maple!" he shrieked and attempted to grab onto the branch above him. Well, technically he did but because his luck just kept running deeper, the snow that was covering the branch decided that now was a brilliant time to cover him instead.<p>

Some people would call Matthew an idiot because he kept walking towards the cottage. It was cold, _he_ was cold and in desperate need for a good beer. England had beer, right? He reached a clearing in the weird foresty type area he escaped from and saw *gasp* people! Living, breathing, walking towards him people! Part of him was worried, who the hell in their right minds would be walking here in the middle of nowhere?! Then he realized he willingly flew to this middle of nowhere and calmed down a bit. The other part that took over had him race over to them smiling like the mental person he was. "Hello! Sorry if I'm bothering you but it's my first time here and I may happen to be lost," he muttered loud enough to be heard.

The smaller man smiled at him and giggled. He looked about Matthew's age, but petite and definitely Italian. But what was up with that curl… "That's alright! You're not bothering us, is he Luddy?" The small Italian asked the other man. Matthew, being a tall Canadian, had to look up at the bloke. He looked obviously German and spoke with a chipped, German accent.

"Nein, Feli, he isn't," he, Luddy(?), sighed. "In what direction are you going?"

"Rosehill Cottage," Matthew stated and showed him the picture he printed from the home exchange website.

Luddy frowned. "Mein Gott, you've got a ways to go. You need to keep going. Just in case though, my name is Ludwig and this is my-"

"Fiancé!" Feli interrupted thrusting his engagement ring in Matthew's face.

"Yes, my fiancé Feliciano. We live just up the road, but if you ask around in town someone will sure be able to point you in the correct direction for us if you need anything," Ludwig told him and gave him what might've been a smile.

Matthew smiled back, thanked them, and continued walking on his very long way to the cottage. "Stupid chauffeur, I paid you to take me to the freaking house!" He grumbled. This cottage had better be worth it.


	5. Pleasant Intrusion

{Chapter Five: Matthew's POV}

I was unpacked. In fact, I had been unpacked for the past two hours. The only thing I could do was take Arthur's car to town. There was absolutely no way in hell I was about to do that. One, I haven't driven on frozen roads since high school. Two, I've never driven ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD. Okay, deep breaths Matthew, deep breaths. I sighed and stared at the almost empty fridge and pantry. I needed (edible) food now and my stomach growling intensified that need.

Arthur's car was as British as you could get. It was a red Mini Cooper with a British flag painted on the roof. That's like painting the Canadian flag on my moose. Not that I have a moose…anymore. Moving on. The important thing is that even the freaking steering wheel is on the opposite side. My only response was to groan. How the hell was I going to do this? _'Just do it for the food, Matthew,_' I reminded myself. Okay, another deep breath. I can do this.

"I can't do this!" I screamed as the car sped down the road. "Oh shit.." A freaking car was coming at me. I pulled the car as close as I could to the edge. "Don't hit me, don't hit me, don't hit me!" I slammed on the breaks and stared at the oncoming moving truck heading my way and closed my eyes. "Please don't hit me…" I opened my eyes back up when I could hear the truck behind me on the read. "That's it, I need a drink."

* * *

><p>I (probably loudly) hummed along to the Christmas music playing in the shop as I pushed my cart around, drinking the first bottle of beer I found. By the time I was almost finished with my third bottle my cart was full of fixings for pancakes, maple syrup, and more beer.<p>

"Someone must like sugar," the cashier giggled as she eyed the huge mass of maple syrup.

"Oh yeah," I slurred. How should I approach going home…

* * *

><p>A couple hours later I was awoken by a banging on the front door. I groaned because that sure as hell wasn't helping my headache and stomped downstairs.<p>

"Who is it?" I asked annoyed.

"It's me," a thick German accent slurred.

"Who?"

"Arthur, I swear if you don't open your door I'll take a leak on your front porch!" Instead of letting whoever this person was do their business on Arthur's porch (mainly because I figure he'd kill me if I did), I threw open the door to glare at them. "Oh…well…I'm much drunker than I thought, aren't I?"

"That might be so, but if you are wondering I am not Arthur."

"Well who are you then?"

"I'm Matthew, Matthew Williams. Not that you'll remember in the morning anyway."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because usually people don't even remember when they're sober." I sighed. "I'm not sure why I'm even telling that to a complete stranger."

"Gilbert Beilschmidt."

"I…what?"

"Gilbert Beilschmidt, that's my name. Now I'm not a stranger." Gilbert smiled at me. It was a slightly predatory smile, a type of smirk that would instantly turn on someone in a bar but scared me at the moment in Arthur's cottage. "Anyway Matthew, how come you're here and not Arthur?"

"Oh! Well Arthur put this place up on a home exchange website and I found it, in the nick of time too. So now Arthur is in Los Angeles and I'm here in Surrey." I watched as Gilbert swayed his way to the bathroom, then swayed out awkwardly after my story. "Would you like to sit down?" He nodded and plopped down onto the couch behind him, still giving me his predatory smirk. "Um would you like a drink?"

"Would I happen to have any beer left?"

I rolled my eyes and he looked directly at the coffee table covered in beer bottles. "I have one left just for you, asshole."

"Oh feisty, I love it."

"Don't make me throw the bottle at your face."

"You wouldn't."

"And why not?"

"You're Canadian."

"What does that have to do with anything? And how do you know?"

He pointed at my 'Canadian and Proud' sweatshirt. "Aren't you Canadians supposed to be polite?"

"Not us hockey players."

"Them I heard to be rough."

"On the ice or in bed?"

"Both."

"I bet you wouldn't know about the latter."

"Not yet I don't. Want to show me?"

I'm pretty sure I turned as red as the maple leaf on my sweatshirt, which was interesting timing since I was already sitting on his lap. "I, um I-I'm not good at it."

Gilbert's smirk faltered and he looked at me in shock. "Excuse me."

"I'm not good a sex."

"Now that cannot be possible."

"I know! Sex is pretty basic, right?" Gilbert shrugged. "Well, anyway, my ex-boyfriend told me that and even someone like me doesn't forget something like that."

"He must've had a reason. Have you had sex before?" I glared at him. "Hey, don't give me that look! My brother Ludwig is around the age you look and he never had sex until he proposed to his boyfriend, and that was a couple months ago!"

Why did that name sound familiar? "Ludwig…is his tall, blond, and stoic looking?"

"Yup that's him! How did you know? I didn't already show you a picture did I?"

I had to laugh. "No, I met Ludwig and his fiancé Feliciano this afternoon walking to the cottage."

I should probably admit that even with all the small talk and thanks to all the beer, Gilbert and I _did_ end up having sex that night. Eat your words, Carlos!

* * *

><p><strong>AN: HI!~ I told you I'd update! Actually I think I said I'd finish soon but same thing. Updating brings me on chapter closer to finishing so aha! Anywhositable, here is the lovely chapter where we cue the first episode of drunken PruCan sex. There is sure to be more to follow, though I don't believe the drunken aspect is in this fic. On a different note, yes if you noticed, I did start a new fic. Mainly because I got the movie it's based off of this Christmas and I was texting my friend during it and we decided that it needs a Spamano crossover. I call it "The Prince and the Frog" because apparently I'm better at writing gay fanfiction. Who knew! But anyways, if ya'll would be so kind as to check the first chapter out of that (only if you wan to, I don't want to like force you in some way to read it), it would be most obliged.  
><strong>**I'm hoping to update almost daily, maybe multiple updates per day so I can finish this by the end of the holidays.  
>I don't say this enough, but I love you lot. If you're reading, favouriting, following, or reviewing this or any of my fanfictions, I love you all. Thanks ever so much for supporting me!<strong>

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	6. Mending Spirits

{Chapter Six: Matthew's POV}

"Good morning," Gilbert said as he entered the kitchen.

I smiled shyly at him and attempted to turn on the coffee pot. "Good morning," I replied. When I turned around in frustration I noticed that he put on a pair of glasses. "You have…glasses?"

"Yeah, I do. They're reading glasses."

"You look good in them."

I could see a faint red colour appear on Gilbert's cheeks. "Oh, well thank you. You're wearing glasses too."

This time it was my turn to blush. "Well you see I lost my contacts last night." I laughed to myself. "I wonder how, eh?"

Gilbert chuckled. "Kesesese. You're cute, you know."

"Eh?"

"That. Your 'ehs' and 'aboots'."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

He laughed again. "Kesesese, there you go again. I like it; you're different than the normal lot we get around this time of year."

I rolled my eyes and glanced at the coffee pot. "Hey Gil, how do you turn this thing on?"

He walked over and looked over the machine, then proceeded to PLUG IT IN. Good job Matthew… "You were doing everything right but the plug."

"Oh you plug them in over here," I teased to hide my embarrassment.

"You're more American than you try to act, Birdie."

"I take that as an insult. And…'Birdie'?"

"Yeah, Birdie."

"Why? You know my name."

"It's a nickname, _Birdie_. You're cute."

"I'm cute? That's your answer." Gilbert only nodded. "Why in the-" I was cut off by his ringing cell phone. "Alisa," I read handing him the phone. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to read it."

Gilbert shrugged. "That's okay." He glanced down at his phone and it finally stopped ringing. "I'll call her back later."

I tried to ignore the ache in my chest. It couldn't be jealousy because I'd only just met him! To ignore that thought in my mind I attempted to search for a cup in Arthur's cupboards. "Where in the world-" Gilbert cut me off my handing me a cup. "Oh I…well thank you. You sure know your way around Arthur's house."

Gilbert blushed again. "Well Arthur and I are rather close, almost like brothers. Unfortunately most people cannot tell that I am his semi-respectable best friend. As of late though, Arthur will take me in for the night so I don't get behind the wheel. Terrible reasoning but I've needed it a lot more than usual."

"Oh," was my only response as I looked into my coffee cup as if it held all the answers to him. "Are you sure you wouldn't like a cup?"

"Oh no, I better get going. Listen, Matthew, I wanted to apologize for last night." I gave him a slightly hurt glare. "That came out wrong. What I mean is that I'm sorry for bursting in and rudely ruining your holiday. I'm not sorry that I met you. I need to you know that I…I seem to hurt people by being myself and-"

"Gil, it's okay. I get it."

"Well I mean I don't want to-"

"Gil…bert." I cleared by throat. "I promise I won't fall in love with you, if that's what you're worried about."

"Well alright then. Nicely put, very blunt."

I blushed. "We're both saying things off today. What I mean is I don't think I even fall in love, that's not how I am."

"I guess we're okay them. You see I have the typical male problem of not calling after a date."

"Well this wasn't even close to a typical date, so you're off the hook."

"Right yes, but…what if I wanted to call you?"

I stared at him in complete shock. Did he really just ask me that? "Oh I…"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and sighed. "Right completely the wrong thing to say. Goodbye, I guess, Matthew. Oh and, though I'm sure you won't, if you do end up staying I'll be at the pub tonight with some friends." After saying that he left the house and what I thought was out of my life as well. Was I really going to let him go?

* * *

><p>I checked my watch. I had an hour before my flight left and I was almost through the airport security check. But did I really want to leave? What would I do? Arthur was still in my house and it would be terribly rude to kick him out. I bet he needed this vacation more than I did...and then there was Gilbert. Wonderful, charming Gilbert. I sighed. I came here to get rid of old "love" not find it the first night I came. Oh but I can't be in love with him already! There is no way that love at first sight can exist. Plus my heart was still broken, and if I did fall in love with Gilbert and he broke my heart too I don't think I'd ever recover.<p>

"You're all clear sir," the man doing my security screening said and zipped up my bag.

Maybe I could take a chance… "What's the quickest way back out of here?" I asked him.

He gave me confused stare. "Did you book the wrong flight or something sir?"

"Something like that."

* * *

><p>Again I was checking my watch, but this time I was at the pub looking for Gilbert. Luckily for me it wasn't too long before he walked in and man did he look amazing. I sighed in appreciation and waited for him to notice me. I watched as he scanned the room, hopefully looking for me as well. His whole face lit up when he saw me and I shyly waved back.<p>

"So what changed your mind?" He asked me when he walked over to my small table.

"Nothing much, really. Just an annoyingly charming man I happened to meet," I replied.

Gilbert smiled back at me. "I need to meet this bloke and thank him."

"Oh I think you already know him quite well." Gilbert smiled wider and ordered me another beer.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Here is the next chapter where we indulge in Matthew basically...zoning(?) him to a level way below the friend-zone. And then he realizes oh shit maybe I do like the bloke. Bwahahaha, man I love writing this stuff. I remember when I didn't believe in love, and then I started reading fanfiction. Oh how my life has changed. XD**

**Anywho, I'm hoping to update at least a couple of chapters today for this fic.**

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	7. Leading Man

{Chapter Seven: Arthur's POV}

I had seen Matthew's older neighbor walking around her neighborhood before, but never alone and sure as hell never as lost looking. Now because I am a proper gentleman I decided to pull over and help her out.

"Excuse me ma'am, but are you lost?" I asked her when I got out of the car.

She sighed. "I believe I am," she replied looking rather disgruntled. "Do you happen to know where I live?"

I nodded. "I believe I do, yes."

"Good, because I don't."

On the car ride to her house, I found out that her name was Amelia, she used to be an actress, and since she said she could apparently tell I was gay she told me a little bit about her late wife Alice.

"We met during one of my first movies," Amelia explained. "She was the youngest writer I had ever seen, came straight over from England when she graduated high school. She wanted to be a novel writer but Hollywood convinced her to use her brilliant skills to write movies instead. I'm glad she did, because she was the love of my life." I opened her car door for her and lead her to her front door when she immediately handed over her house keys. "Oh, I know I can trust you Arthur, or else I would hit you with my cane."

I laughed as I opened her front door and handed her the keys. "You have so much spunk, Amelia. No wonder a picky Brit like Alice liked you."

At this Amelia laughed like I had told her the funniest joke in the world. "Oh dear, Arthur, she didn't. Well at first she didn't. When we first met she was quick to show just how much she loathed me. Being the romantic I was, fell instantly in love with her and planned to woo her if it was the last thing I did."

"You must have eventually if you two were married, right?"

"Alice never liked to admit it but I did rather quickly. I know she kept up the act just to spite me. That's something you would do, wouldn't you Arthur?" My only response was to blush. "I thought so. Oh and Arthur dear, thank you ever so much for rescuing me."

"It was my pleasure, Amelia." As she took off her coat I looked around her living room. Pictures starting from old black and white ending at more modern looking ones in colour of Amelia, Alice, and their families covered almost every available spots on the walls. However, an old writer's desk shoved in the corner was decorated in various awards dedicated to both Amelia and Alice. I was also quick to notice the cold, untouched soup sitting on a TV tray in front of what I would guess to be Amelia's chair. I wonder… "Amelia, well I was going out to dinner tonight, and since I don't know anyone and you and I seem to hold wonderful conversations, would you like to join me if you're not busy?"

Amelia smiled and laughed. "Honey, I haven't been busy since 1973."

* * *

><p>For the first time in three years, I was actually enjoying myself on a dinner "date". Amelia told amusing stories about her past jobs, what it was like to grow up on a farm in the middle of nowhere while dreaming to be an actress, and more about Alice.<p>

"So let me ask, no one knew about you and Alice?" I asked her.

Amelia smiled fondly. "I think no one even thought about two women being married during that time because it was absolutely unheard of. Everyone just thought we were best friends, and really that's what we were except we loved each other in a slightly different fashion. When we went to award ceremonies, we would either go separately or take our brother's as our "dates."

"You have a brother?"

"I did! His name was Mike, and boy was he a rebel. Gave daddy some real trouble in his teenage years. Alice, on the other hand, had many siblings, so she would take her older brother Scott with her."

I nodded in understanding. "That makes sense."

Amelia pursed her lips, looking at me in thought. "You know what I've been asking myself all evening?"

"What? Why I'm bothering you with all these questions?"

"Why a handsome man like you would spend his vacation in L.A. with an old lady like me."

I took in a sharp breath, already feeling the tears prickling my eyes just at the _thought_ of Francis. "I just needed to get away from my everyday life and the people I see all the time." Amelia gave me a disbelieving glare. "Okay so not all the people, mainly a bloke. An ex-boyfriend who, who just got engaged and forgot to tell me." I used the napkin in my lap to attempt to wipe away the tears. "Sorry, I shouldn't be crying."

"Oh don't worry about that dear, but you really shouldn't be crying over him because he's obviously an asshole."

"He is a huge asshole. How did you know?"

Amelia smiled at me comfortingly. "He let you go. Arthur, sweetheart, let me tell you something. In show biz, we have the leading man and the best friend. You, I can tell, you are the leading man but for some reason you're acting like the best friend."

I sighed and gladly took her offered hand. "Oh Amelia, you're right! You're supposed to take the starring role of your own life! You know, I've been going to a therapist for three years and she'd never explained anything to me that well."

Amelia shrugged. "I blame Alice for my way with words."

* * *

><p>I sighed as I sat down on the couch and glared at the telly. "What the bloody hell are all these machines for?" I muttered when the phone(?) rang. "Gate?!" I read off the small screen. Well shit…<p>

{Meanwhile at the gate: Alfred's POV}

I waited as the intercom system rang. Seriously what was taking Mattie so long?!

"Al, I can't be here all day," Natalia nagged.

"Nat, my brother just broke up with his boyfriend, I need to see him!" I protested.

Natalia scoffed. "Whatever."

"Hullo?" A British sounding voice responded from the speaker.

"Mattie?" I asked confused.

"Matthew's not here right now, but I'm trying to open the ga-oh fu-" _'beeeeep!'_ the intercom interrupted. I snorted. "If you heard that I'm sorry."

{Back to Arthur's POV}

I came running out the front door as a candy apple red convertible came driving in. A handsome blond man stepped out and walked up the steps. "Well you're not Mattie," he stated but smiled anyway.

I mentally cursed as I felt my cheeks becoming warm. Did I really just embarrass myself basically in front of his gorgeous bloke?! "Erm, no I'm not. I'm Arthur Kirkland."

The man stuck his hand out and shook mine. "I'm Alfred F. Jones, Matthew's brother. Where is he, by the way?"

"Matthew's in London."

"What? Mattie doesn't go anywhere."

"Well we have that in common. Excuse me, not to sound rude by do you need something?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! I just came by to check on Mattie. Since he's not here I guess I'll call him later then."

"Al can we go now? Mat's not even here!" A blond woman whined as she stepped out of the convertible and walked up the steps to be next to Alfred.

I sighed. Naturally a handsome man like Alfred would have a girlfriend. "Well you shouldn't keep your…"

"Natalia," Alfred said.

I raised an eyebrow. "You shouldn't keep Natalia waiting. It's not a very gentlemanly thing to do."

Alfred sighed this time but quickly replaced his frown to smile at Natalia. "Alright Nat, we better get going. It was nice meeting you, Arthur."

"Thanks," I muttered when suddenly a strong, warm wind picked up and nearly knocked me over.

"Be careful dude! Santa Anna's get really rough this time of year!" Alfred warned me.

"What?" I asked like the genius I was.

"Santa Anna's; a warm wind that keeps the temperature hot down here this time of year." Alfred and Natalia stepped back into their car, but surprisingly Alfred winked at me. "They say anything can happen when they blow, just don't blow away."

I watched, still in shock from the wink, as he drove away. I closed my eyes, enjoying the slower breeze that now caressed my face. "Anything can happen…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: See? I said I would update again today ^-^ Mike is one of the name's I liked for 2P!Canada and Scott (sorry it's lame) is the name I chose for Scotland. I hope ya'll enjoy this slightly different level of USUK I decided to add because why not. I couldn't have Amelia's late husband be an Arthur because that would be kind of weird... (Yes, that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it). Plus, I wanted to switch up the story a little bit since we have male Arthur coming to America instead of female Iris, so I decided to have female actress Amelia help him out instead of male writer Arthur. Sometimes I like to be different.**

**So much USUK shoved into one smallish chapter...I think I have nine more chapters to go before this fic is over!**

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	8. Date on the Town

{Chapter Eight: Matthew's POV}

"Gil," I groaned stomping down the stairs. I had a huge headache.

Gilbert laughed. "Now that's not the way I like to hear you saying my name," he teased.

"Oh shut up." I was getting dizzy again, so I had to lean against the wall. "I've never had that much to drink, well, ever."

"Yes, I believe no one ever has." I walked into the kitchen and gasped when I saw my underwear casually lying on the floor. I quickly picked them up and hid them from site behind my microwave. Gilbert laughed again and handed me a cup of coffee. "Now I had nothing to do with that, Birdie."

I groaned and took a long drink. "I know but you were here."

"I was. Oh how these past couple of days with you have been an adventure."

"I know and I'm deeply sorry about that. All I know is that I must be temporarily insane right now."

"Temporarily?"

"Oh shut up." I sighed. "Why did you stay, Gil?"

Gilbert's smile changed into a softer one and he moved some hair out of my eyes. "Because you asked me to, Birdie."

"Oh maple I did…Was there begging at some point?" Gilbert laughed (he was laughing at me a lot) but before he could answer his phone started ringing. "Lili," I read as I picked it up and handed it to him. "I'm sorry for reading it…again."

Gilbert stared at the name before sighing. "I better take this," he said and went outside.

I watched him laugh at whatever "Lili" was saying to him on the phone. "Alisa, Lili, Matthew…he's a busy guy." I blushed when he looked at me watching him and quickly moved away from the window."

"Well it's a beautiful day," Gilbert said when he walked in the door.

I raised an eyebrow at the dark grey mess of clouds threatening to rain or snow on us. "How on Earth did you miss those clouds when you were outside?" I teased.

"I mean it's not snowing anymore." He stuck his tongue out at me.

"Charming."

"I always am, Birdie." Gilbert looked outside again and sat down next to me at the kitchen table. "I think we should go into town."

"I-what?"

"I said we should go into town. You know, you should get dresses, we can take a drive into town, get some lunch, and get to know each other."

"Why?"

"Because I'm running out of reasons for why not. Aren't you?"

* * *

><p>The town was lovely, filled with old buildings and farms with mainly sheep. The drive over was lovely too, but mainly because of the conversation. As much as I was trying not to, I couldn't help but feel that I was slowly falling in love with Gilbert and I wasn't so sure anymore that it was a bad thing.<p>

"So you're a journalist?" I said as we sat down for lunch.

"I am," Gilbert replied obviously amused.

"What type of journalist are you?"

"A very exciting one."

I laughed. "No, I meant what do you normally write about? Don't you work with Arthur?"

"I do work with Arthur, but because he's such a romantic he usually covers wedding announcements and goes to weddings that want to be in the paper and writes about them. I on the other hand, write about anything and everything that's exciting. A riot in London, a wild animal that escaped from the zoo, a riot in London about a wild animal that escaped from the zoo."

I laughed again. It seemed that Gilbert was able to make me laugh as well. "What did you study in school?"

"Well journalism of course!"

"Did you always know this was what you wanted to do?"

Gilbert sighed and took a long drink from his beer. "Okay, I feel as if I'm in a job interview. Do you happen to know how to be on a date?"

I laughed nervously as yet again I felt the blood rush to my face. "Sorry, but I haven't been on a first date in a long time."

Gilbert smiled. "Well since we have already had sex once and slept together twice, I believe we can switch up those first date rules. Now, what did you ask me?"

"Oh Gil you don't have to answer it!"

"You asked so I will. Ah yes, did I always know if I wanted to be a journalist. Well, for the longest time I wanted to be an engineer with my younger brother and start our own business. Unfortunately, both our parents were well respected journalists for the paper I work at now, and my mum still today is one of the main editors. I guess when I realized the better my chances were of being a journalist, I started becoming more interested. Besides, who doesn't want to get free entry into a Manchester United game?" Gilbert laughed. "Now what about you, Birdie?"

"Well I am a professional hockey player for the Los Angeles Kings."

Gilbert nearly spit out his beer. "You're a what?!"

"Didn't I already tell you this?"

"You said you were a hockey player but not about the rest of it!"

I blushed. "Oh, well I…whoops."

Gilbert took a deep breath. "Okay, moving on. Since you already know so much about my family, tell me about yours."

"Well it's a little complicated. You see my mother's Canadian and my father's American. They met in France while my father was on a business trip and my mother was on vacation, she liked to say it was love at first sight. After my brother Alfred and I were born though, they started fighting because Alfred and my father were close, so naturally my mother and I became close. It was like a huge tension between us. They would argue saying the other like the other child more. Eventually they got divorced and my mother took me to Canada and gave me her maiden name, Williams. My father took Alfred and they stayed in America so he has our father's last name, Jones. We kept in close touch over the years and sometimes we would get together over Christmas and the adults would attempt to behave. After college I got recruited by the Kings and Alfred got sucked up into acting."

"What's Alfred like?"

"A bit like you, actually."

"Charming, wonderful, and handsome?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, annoying and conceited."

Gilbert gasped in mock surprise. "Why Matthew, how could you say that about me? Maybe I'm just too awesome for this world."

I laughed and threw my napkin at his face. "Oh shut up, you drama queen."

"No Birdie, I am the Drama _King_. You can be my queen if you'd like." Unfortunately, I couldn't think of a witty response in enough time before I started blushing again, causing Gilbert to cackle gleefully.

The conversation took off from there, and a lot of the time we would just happily stare at each other smiling like lovesick teenagers. After lunch, we walked around the garden grounds surrounding the old barn house-turned-restaurant, where Gilbert would happily pull me behind one of the tall shrubs and steal a kiss or two…or ten.

* * *

><p>I smiled as Gilbert put his car into park in front of the cottage. "Thank you for taking me out, Gil. I had a wonderful time."<p>

"Well thank you for coming with me," he replied and attempted to unbuckle his seat belt.

"You don't have to come in," I quickly said. I saw a hurt look l flash across Gilbert's face. "I meant it's cold and I think I'm going to take a nap or something, so you don't have to come in with me. I promise that's what I meant." Gilbert just laughed but stopped when I sighed. "I just…Gil, I'm leaving in nine days, this makes whatever this is complicated and I'm not sure I can handle complicated right now." Nevertheless, I leaned over and gave him a chaste kiss.

"And that doesn't make things complicated?"

"Sex makes everything complicated. Even the not having it makes it complicated."

"Which is usually why it's better to have it."

I rolled my eyes and stepped out of the car. "I'll see you later, won't I?" Gilbert only shrugged. "Okay well, bye then I guess.

"Wait, Matthew."

"Yes?"

"We'll figure something out, I know we will."

I smiled in relief. "Good."

Gilbert quickly reached and gave my hand a squeeze. "Good."

When I climbed the short walkway and opened the front door, I turned around to wave goodbye to Gilbert only find his car already driving away. I sighed. "Ridiculously, complicated."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Apparently I miscounted last chapter because _now_ I have nine chapters left. Crazy, eh? Nine whole chapters. Maybe I will be done before the first of January! Wouldn't that be wizard (if you know where that's from, you get an internet cookie XD). I'm hoping to fit in one more chapter tonight because it's already eight at night. I swear it was five like two minutes ago. Anywho, off to attempt to write another chapter!**

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	9. Real Ladies' Man

{Chapter Nine: Arthur's POV}

I was genuinely surprised when I opened the front door and saw Alfred. "Oh! Hello Alfred!" I said and let him in.

Alfred smiled and handed me a thin package from FedEx. "Hi Arthur! I found this leaning against the gate from a little town called London, England," he replied.

I happily took the packaged and opened it. "Oh, it's from a friend of mine. He's writing a book, and I give him notes sometimes…" I flipped the card over that was paper clipped to Francis's pages and sighed. It was only his name. Suddenly laughter erupted from the dining room reminding me of present company.

"Having a little party?" Alfred asked a knowing look in his eyes.

I nodded. "A neighbor of mine, well Matthew's, knew I don't really know anyone here and decided to introduce me to some of her friends."

* * *

><p>"Let me get this straight, you were never a woman around town?" Alfred asked Amelia as he poured her another glass of wine.<p>

"Never," she replied with a smile. "I married very young."

"That's because she had the best girl," Madeline explained. "She had to get Alice off the market as soon as possible. Everyone loved her, plus she had the greatest laugh."

"What did she say? She had the greatest ass?" Amelia asked.

Everyone burst into laughter again. "No, the greatest laugh," I explained.

"Not that her ass was half bad," Mathias added.

Amelia smacked Mathias but was laughing along with everyone else. "She had real gumption, yet she told me that I was the girl she always wrote. That was probably one of the reasons I was in so many of her movies." I couldn't help but smile, their romance sounded beautiful.

"What about you, Alfred?" Madeline asked.

"What about me?" Alfred asked in reply.

"You're a ladies' man, aren't you?" Mathias asked although it sounded more like a statement.

Alfred instantly shook his head. "Oh no, definitely not. I'm a one guy or girl at a time, kind of dude." I quietly sighed in appreciation. Why couldn't I find a guy like Alfred? Actually, I wish I had Alfred. I could see Amelia smirk at me like she knew what I was thinking. "Actually I've been dating a beautiful actress for a couple of months. I don't know what she sees in me, but I know I'm the luckiest guy in the world."

"Oh she's an actress?" I asked attempting to be interested rather than jealous. "What's she been in? Anything we would've seen?"

"Nothing major but-"

"And where is she?" Mathias interrupted.

"Look at him, half dead and still interested," Amelia said laughing.

"Oh Mathias, what would Lukas say?" Madeline asked in mock horror.

Mathias rolled his eyes. "All I'm saying is he's here with us, so where is she?"

Alfred just laughed. "She's working on a little film in New Mexico."

"Her loss is our gain," Amelia told him smirking at me again as I smiled at him in nodded in agreement. "Alright everyone, let's leave these two young people to themselves and get back to our bedpans."

* * *

><p>"Thank you for letting me stay for dinner," Alfred said as I walked him to the door.<p>

"Of course, Alfred!" I replied and opened the door for him. "I'm glad you joined us. Aren't they just hilarious?"

"Super funny! I cannot believe Mattie has been living next to Amelia Allen this whole time and I never knew! She's a legend."

"Isn't she just, and so modest. You know, she gave me a list of movies that she said I just had to see, none with her in them but most of them written by Alice of course. I've seen a couple of them already and they're absolutely wonderful."

"Maybe we could see one together sometime."

I could feel my heart start pounding at the thought. "That would be wonderful."

Alfred gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek and smiled at me. "I'll be seeing you, Arthur." He quickly gave me another kiss and I noticed the red colouring appearing on his cheeks. "I-I'm sorry, for kissing you twice. Well kissing you in general I guess. I never asked and you-"

"Alfred, it's perfectly fine." I smiled back at him and looked him straight in the eyes. He winked at me and walked towards his convertible. "Don't blow away!" I called after him and he gave me a knowing smile. "'Anything' seems to be happening," I whispered to myself as I closed the front door after watching Alfred drive away. "And I hope it continues."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And the tale of Amelia the matchmaker continues! I know this is one of the shorter chapters, but I always thought this scene was cute and I knew I had to put it in. For the characters I decided to put, I added Mathias who is Denmark and Madeline who is fem!Canada. I chose those two because I thought that naturally they would all get along. Oh, and Lukas is Norway. Yay for DenNor! I think I've been able to add most of my ships into this fic, but there will be a little surprise...next chapter. I'm hoping to post that chapter tomorrow along with the next chapter in The Prince and the Frog. Well, I'm off for tonight.**

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	10. Alisa and Lili

{Chapter Ten: Matthew's POV}

I sighed as the warm water finished filling up the bathtub. "I can't handle complicated?!" I exclaimed remembering my earlier conversation with Gilbert. "I cannot believe I was so stupid. No wonder Carlos decided to go and have sex with someone else! Not that we really had sex in the first place…oh shut up Matthew. This is not the time to indulge in self pity." I instantly got of the tub, got dressed, and drove to Gilbert's house.

* * *

><p>I double checked the address when I pulled up. The house was cute and made out of beautiful stone, but it seemed rather large for a man living alone. Nevertheless I ventured up his walkway and knocked on the door. All doubts flew out of my mind when he opened the door and-holy mother of maple did he look amazing in that t-shirt.<p>

"Surprise!" I muttered. Gilbert seemed shocked but more worried, which surprised me.

"Yeah it is," he replied.

I sighed when I heard noises coming from inside. "You're not alone, are you?"

"No I'm not actually."

"I'm sorry, Gil. I should've called or-"

The front door was opened wider and a little girl stepped into view. She looked around six with brown hair and had Gilbert's eyes. Suddenly another little girl stepped into view on Gilbert's other side. She looked about four and had blond hair and green eyes. She tugged on Gilbert's pant leg and he lifted her up into his arms. "Vati, who is this?" she whispered.

Vati, wait that means "Daddy?" I asked in shock.

Gilbert gulped and nodded. "I am 'Vati' or 'Daddy'. Girls, this is Matthew." He gestured to the brown hair little girl standing next to him. "Matthew this is Alisa and this," he smiled at the little blond haired girl in his arms, "is Lili."

I nodded. "Alisa and Lili." _Oh_. It was his daughters that called him. I smiled at the two. "Hello."

Alisa smiled back at me. "Hello, how do you do?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm doing well, thank you. And you?"

"I'm doing well too, thank you. Would you like to come in?"

I looked back up at Gilbert. "Only if it's okay with your farther."

Lili seemed to like that response and poked Gilbert's cheek. "Please Vati, I like him," she pleaded. Gilbert laughed and he and the girls let me in. "Vati, can we still have hot chocolate?"

"Yes," Gilbert replied amused.

"With baby marshmallows?" Alisa added.

"Yes with baby marshmallows," he assured them and then turned to me. "Matthew, are you by any chance into hot chocolate?"

I smiled at him and both girls and nodded. "In fact, I am totally into hot chocolate."

* * *

><p>As we all sat at their kitchen table and drank hot chocolate with 'five marshmallows each' Gilbert assured all of us, I was able to quickly tell that Alisa and Lily both looked up to their father and he took care of them well. The house was kept well enough for a home with two little girls; I could smell a delicious aroma still in the air probably from dinner. Gilbert would even put a napkin on his face with his glasses and the girls would call him Mr. Napkin-Head! Lili was quick to adorably tell me that they were as close as the three musketeers.<p>

"Vati, can we show Matthew our tent?" Alisa asked Gilbert when we finished our hot chocolate.

"Oh no Lili, Matthew will not crawl into your tent," he replied.

Lili looked at me with the saddest eyes I've ever seen. "You don't like tents?"

Naturally I did go see their tent. "Whoa," I whispered when I first saw it. "This is a seriously cool tent."

"Come inside," Lili said as she and Alisa quickly ran over and laid down. "Lie down please."

Alisa offered me a pillow. "Here Matthew, you can use my pillow."

I gingerly took the pillow and laid down next to Lili. "Thank you, Alisa." As Gilbert laid down next to me and Alisa next to him, I heard him tell her good job for offering me the pillow. Lili suddenly burped and we all burst into laughter.

"Very nice," Gilbert teased her.

I nudged him with my elbow. "I bet she learnt that from you, eh?" Gilbert just rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me," Lili said in amusement.

"This is an exceptionally great tent," I told Alisa and Lili.

"It's cozy," Alisa said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Who cut out all these beautiful stars?"

"We did!" Lili quickly answered. Gilbert glanced at me and subtly rubbed his thumb against my hand, so I sent him a quick smile.

"Matthew, if you wanted to sleepover that would be alright," Alisa told me. "We could push our beds together for you and Lili and I could sleep on the couch in front of the Christmas tree."

I tried not to show her how shocked I was at her offer. "Oh, well thank you Alisa but I don't think I can tonight. Would another night be okay?"

"That would be nice," she said not sounding very disappointed. "You know, we never have any grown up friends here anymore."

"I like it," Lili replied as she snuggled up to my red sweatshirt.

"Me too," Alisa agreed.

* * *

><p>I waited patiently downstairs as Gilbert put the girls to bed.<p>

"No one has ever been a bigger hit with my girls," Gilbert stated as he sat down next to me on the couch. He stopped smiling when he took a look at my serious face. "What's wrong?"

"You're children are wonderful, Gilbert. I'm just trying to figure out why you never told me about them or about their mother," I explained.

Gilbert sighed. "It's kind of difficult to explain to someone that I'm a widower without getting pity, and I don't normally tell people I 'date' about them." He must've noticed me say widower in shock to myself because he continued on that topic. "Her name was Elizabeta. I see a lot of her in Lili, a real ball buster. She passed away two years ago, and although the girls were young it still hit them hard. I guess I just didn't want to introduce them to someone they most likely won't ever see again. That really is my only defense because until I get to know someone really well, it's easier pretending to be a normal, single guy and too complicated to be who I really am. I'm a full time dad, I'm a mother and a father, and I'm Mr. Napkin-head! I'm a guy who reads parenting books and cook books before I go to bed. I spend my weekends buying tutus, I'm learning to sew! I'm on some type of mental overload and it helps to compartmentalize my crazy life."

I sighed and put my head in my hands. "Me coming here just put this way past complicated, I'm sorry." Gilbert reached his hand to take mind but instead I stood up. "You're right, I'm leaving in nine days and it was wrong of me to introduce myself when they probably won't see me again. I'm really sorry, Gil."

"Matthew, listen to me. I'm not sorry. I'm glad the girls met you because like they said, they don't get to see adults around here anymore. I didn't mean to blow up at you with all that information, I was just trying to explain how maybe…maybe I'm just afraid of what another person might do to who we are and how we get from one day to the next."

"Right, right, because I'm just someone you had sex with once and slept with twice."

"I thought _I _was just someone _you_ had sex with once and slept with twice." Gilbert sighed. "We're just world apart. I'm a journalist from London and you're a gorgeous hockey player from L.A. I have a cow in the backyard."

I laughed. "You have a cow."

"I have a cow, and I sew. How's that for hard to relate to?"

I nodded. "Pretty far up there."

"Exactly."

And then we just stood there, nodding at each other but avoiding eye contact, digging ourselves even deeper into this complicated mess.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, I have to admit that I may have done some more writing last night after I signed off. And by some I mean I couldn't sleep so now I only have two chapters left to write for this fanfiction...Heh...**

**Oh and is anyone surprised that I mentioned who Alisa and Lili's mother is? Did I give anyone feels? I must admit I don't ship PruHun. In fact, I ship PruAus more than PruHun and I only really go along with PruAus because of the fanfiction Lily of the Lamplight by George deVailer. So much feels. Anyway, Alisa is an OC and Lili is yes, Liechtenstein. I thought it would be cute to add her because she's adorable and could totally work as Gil's daughter. Anywho, better go edit the next chapters so I can get them posted!**

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	11. Fickle Fitness aka Phone Tag

**A/N: For the phone conversation near the middle-end, Arthur will be in normal text because he's talking to them, Gilbert's lines will be underlined, Matthew's will be in Italics, and Alfred's will be bolded.**

* * *

><p>{Chapter Eleven: Arthur's POV}<p>

Like every other morning, after I finished my daily morning routine I walked over to Amelia's. "Hello!" I called before opening the screen door to her office space. "I brought your mail."

"Why thank you dear!" Amelia replied.

"You've got a postcard from some Peter in Paris, a water bill, and a letter from the Writer's Guild of America, West." After I told her what her mail was, I handed her it and watched in shock as she tossed the letter in an important looking package straight into the trash bin! "Amelia, don't you want to open that before you put it in the bin?"

She shook her head. "No, they keep writing me about some tribute or night dedicated to me. It sounds terrible."

"It sounds brilliant!" I took the letter out of the trash bin. "May I read it?" Amelia nodded and I opened it. "'An Evening with Amelia Allen,'" I read. "'Dear Miss Allen, -several attempts to contact you regarding…We have not yet received your response.'" I gave Amelia a disapproving stare but she just waved me off. "'This special night will be a tribute to your lifetime acting achievement and contribution to the profession. Congratulations on this much-deserved honor.' Amelia, this sounds like a big deal! And they want to do it soon."

Amelia sighed. "Would you like to go up on some stage looking 100 years old just to look out and see eleven morons who came out to see you? No, I don't think so."

"Oh Amelia, we both know there would be way more than eleven people attending. Perhaps you could even take me, as like your date."

"I would take you proudly, but there's no way I'm going or could even walk up the stairs!"

"I could train you!"

Amelia looked at me as if I was crazy. "Excuse me?"

"You know, I could help you get in shape before the tribute. C'mon Amelia, it would be fun!"

She just sighed again at me and held out her hand. "Fine, but get me my good stationary."

"Nearly there," I told Amelia as we walked across the shallow end of the pool. "Bravo," I said when we touched the wall and we turned around.

Back in the house, I used my foot to grab her walker when she made a grab for it. We kept it up for a couple of minutes, me pulling her walker and her following it. Sure she was a little bit slow but I could tell she was making progress.

* * *

><p>I was finally able to relax a little when the phone rang, loudly. "Hello?" I asked when I picked up the phone.<p>

"Hi," Gilbert said.

"Oh my God, hi!"

"Are you ever coming home?"

"Possibly."

"Well how's it going across the Pond?"

"Wonderful! I met a rather nice girl."

"Did you now? I told-"

"She's about ninety years old."

"Excuse me?"

I laughed. "She's Matthew's next door neighbor. Speaking of which, you should stop by and meet him."

"About that, I have actually."

The phone beeped at me. "Bollocks, I've got a call waiting. Can you hold for a little? I feel like I haven't talked to you in a while."

"Sure."

I pressed the button to switch calls. "Hello?"

_"__Arthur, hi, it's Matthew,"_ Matthew replied.

"Hi Matthew! How's everything going?"

_"__Everything is going great. How are you?"_

"I'm loving it here. Listen, can you hold for a little. My friend Gilbert's on the other line and-"

_"__Gilbert?"_

"Oh yeah he said you met."

_"__Yeah we, uh, we did meet. How is he?"_

"Fine, I think. Would you like me to ask?"

_"__Sure."_

Again I pressed the button to switch calls. "Hi Gil, sorry that was Matthew."

"Matthew? How did he sound? How is he?"

"He just asked me the same questions."

"And what did you say?"

"I told him I'd ask. Erm, can I call you back?"

"Yeah sure, I can hold if you're speaking to him."

"Really?"

"Just find out how he is."

And again I pressed the button to switch calls. "Okay this is different but Gilbert wants to know how you are."

_"__Can you tell him that I'm good and that I'm reading one of his pieces in the newspaper? Did he say what he's been up to?"_

"No, would you like me to ask him."

_"__Sure."_

"Okay, please hold." I pressed the button to switch calls yet again. "I cannot believe that you've had sex with the man staying in my house!"

Matthew gasped. _"He told you that?"_

I gasped. "Oh, my God!"

_"__Oh maple!"_

"Oh, my God, I thought I was talking to Gilbert! Can you hold, please? I'm so sorry!" I pressed the bloody button **again**. "I can't believe you've had sex with Matthew. The one thing he asked me was, 'Are there any men in your town?' and I assured him that there were not. Then you meet him and immediately get into his knickers!"

_"__Still me,"_ Matthew said sounding very embarrassed.

"Bollocks, I must've lost him! Matthew I am terribly sorry about this whole thing. Can I call you back?"

_"__Sure."_

"Thank you. Okay, bye." Unfortunately the moment I hung up with Matthew the phone rang again. "What?" I snapped thinking is was Gilbert.

**"It's Alfred. I'm not in trouble, am I?"** Alfred teased.

I gasped. "Oh I'm sorry Alfred; I've just had an…interesting conversation involving Matthew and my friend Gilbert."

Alfred laughed. **"What are you up to this fine Christmas Eve?"**

"Nothing major, really. In a little I was just going to run down to the video shop and rent the next movie on Amelia's list."

**"Mind if I joined you?"**

Even though we couldn't see each other, we both knew the other person was smiling. "I would love it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I love the phone tag scene because it confuses everyone and Arthur can just tell by the tone in Gilbert's voice that's something is up and since he knows him so well he know's that he and Matthew have had sex. Though, I'd be pretty pissed too thinking that someone had sex in my bed. I hoped they changed the sheets and washed them...but knowing Matthew he totally did because he's just that nice.**

**Off to edit another chapter.**

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	12. Movie Date

{Chapter Twelve: Arthur's POV}

"Arthur!" Alfred called when he stepped into the movie rental store. I couldn't help but laugh at his crazy antics. He walked over and I noticed the two drinks in his hands. "I got us the best drinks in town, but I didn't know if you liked a little or big dollop of whipped cream so I-" I instantly grabbed the cup with the big dollop. "Why hello big dollop." Alfred smiled at me as I took a sip. "You look great by the way. Really great."

I blushed. "Thank you. I've been working out with Amelia." Alfred instantly laughed. "Okay so maybe the workout isn't that great-stop laughing!"

Alfred put his hands up in defense. "Okay, okay. I bet it's an awesome workout, I'm just trying not to picture it."

"As I was saying, the workout isn't wonderful but the conversation is fantastic."

"That I am sure of." Alfred suddenly turned around, picked up a movie and held it in front of my face. "Now, have you ever seen this?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "_Chariots of Fire_. Loved it."

Alfred instantly started singing the main song, making me start laughing again. "_Cling, cling, cling, cling, cling, cling. Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun._ Such a great score by Vangelis, because he groundbreakingly took electronic scores to a new level. Keep up, Artie, I'm gonna test you on this later." He started walking down the aisle and picked up a new movie. "_Driving Miss Daisy," _he said. "Hans. Very unexpected but still really great." He started signing the main song to that movie to. "_Roo-de-le-den-doo-den-screw-den-lee-den-doo. Roo-den-de-den-doo-de-dee-de-dun-dun-de-dun_. It was sassy, I loved it." He put the movie back and grinned brightly at me. "Is this a bad game?"

"No! Keep going."

"Okay." He picked up yet another movie. "Sometimes I get self-conscious about my—_Ra-da-da! And: scraw-del-da! Are you embarrassed by this game I've started to play_?" Even though I was laughing I attempted to make him quiet down. "Hey, it's not a library. I can go loud." He continued through _Jaws_ and _The Graduate_ when he picked up _The Mission_. "Oh, my God this one. _The Mission_. You have to check it out some time. The score is genius. It comes from a totally different place. It's like…I can't even…just promise me you'll watch this and listen to the score?"

I nodded. "I'll watch it and listen, promise."

"Thank you. It completely changed my wor-"

I almost started laughing at Alfred again when I noticed that he stopped moving and was watching something outside. "Alfred? What's wrong?" He wasn't paying any attention to me.

"What?" Alfred instantly ran outside and that was when I recognized Natalia clinging to some tall guy wearing a scarf. "Natalia?" I could hear him ask almost in disbelief. Through the window I saw him walk up to her and the guy where I could see her explain in her words what was going on. Oh poor Alfred, how I know how you feel…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alfred fangirling is my favourite thing right now XD I totally do what he did but when I'm talking about a book.**

**Does anyone remember in Chapter Two how Carlos mentioned Natalia just wanted Ivan? Well here ya go guys! Carlos, douche he may be in this fanfic, was actually right! I decided just to describe him as tall and with the scarf because Ivan is adorable and I didn't want to describe him as scary looking. Plus my headcanon for this fanfic is he would frikin have heat stroke in his jacket but since it's a December evening he can have his suaph comfy long ass scarf. **

**I'm also going to mention that I don't ship...is it RusBel? BelRus? I'm sorry, I don't even know their ship name. But whatever Belarus x Russia is I don't ship it. I ship RoChu *fangirl squeal* Moving on...**

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	13. Repairing Hearts

{Chapter Thirteen: Arthur's POV}

Alfred plopped down onto the couch the moment we stepped foot into the living room. "C'mon now love, chipper up," I pleaded. I sighed when he just looked at me with big, round tearful eyes. "How about we have some of your Christmas burgers, huh? Wouldn't that make you feel better?"

"Sure," he replied emotionlessly.

I sighed and sat down next to him on the couch. "Listen. I know that it's hard to believe people when they say they know how you feel, but Alfred, I do know how you feel. You see I was seeing someone back in London, and we met because we worked for the same newspaper. And then I found out that he was seeing this other person, Jeanne, from the Circulation Department. So it turned out that he wasn't in love with me like I thought. What I'm trying to explain is that I understand the feeling of being as small and as insignificant as humanly possible. How, how it can ache in places you didn't even know you had inside you. How it doesn't matter how many new haircuts you get, how many gyms you join, or how many glasses of scotch you drink with your friends. You still go to bed every night and go over every single detail, and then wonder what you did wrong or wonder how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell that you could think you were that happy? Then sometimes you can even convince yourself that he will see the light and show up at your door in the middle of the night, crying in the rain like in some cliché romance movie. But then after all that, however long "all that" may be, you'll go somewhere new. You'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again, and little pieces of your soul will finally come back. And all those years of your life that you wasted will eventually begin to fade."

Alfred let out a deep breath. "Holy fuck," he exclaimed. "So what you're doing over here is getting over someone?"

"Yup."

"And are the pages you got from him?"

"Right again, love."

"So he constantly stays in touch. Which is awesome for him but totally sucky for you."

"Now do you see how much better your life is than mine?"

Alfred threw his arm out in front of me. "Here." I used his arm to pull me up and he smiled at me. "Let's go make those Christmas burgers and we can go celebrate being young, alive, and amazing."

I laughed and pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh Alfred, you are an incredibly wonderful man."

He laughed as well. "Some people say that's my problem."

I held him a little tighter. "I think it's your specialty."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This may sound funny, but this was one of my favourite chapters to write. I know I could've combined this chapter and the one before it, but I felt that Arthur's rant/explanation deserves its own chapter. Now, I've never been in love really to feel all that but I do get feeling as small and as insignificant as humanly possible (thank you depression), so I found that while writing this I would say it in my voice instead of Arthur's like I usually do. But gah the ending, how Alfred instantly makes him laugh again. I would say I need an America to my England, but I already have a Spain to my Romano except it's more like a friendshippy way (I love you best friend~). Anywho, ignore my weirdness. I swear I write too much in these things.**

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	14. Young and Alive

{Chapter Fourteen: Matthew's POV}

It was my last night in England and you'd expect me to be doing something exciting, right? Well wrong you are. Like any sensible person, I was packing so I could fall asleep early and make sure I had everything for my plane ride back tomorrow. Naturally something had to distract me and that something was a persistent pounding on the front door.

"Who is it?" I asked loudly enough to be heard from the bottom of the stairs.

"It's me," they replied.

"Gilbert!" I ran to the front door and threw it open. "Hi." He didn't even reply, he just pulled me forward into a deep, passionate kiss.

* * *

><p>Do you even know how wonderful that after sex glow is? It's magical, I swear. Especially when you know you're <em>making love<em>, not just having sex. But because I'm the idiot that I am, I decided to ruin everything. "This is a bitch," I said. Yeah, that's right. _That_ is the first thing that came out of my mouth. Not 'I love you' or 'I'll miss you' or even a 'Wow that was great!' Nope, not from Matthew Williams.

Gilbert sighed. "Well again I say that asshole of an ex you had was completely wrong because you're great," he replied. Even Gilbert knew what to properly say! Dammit Matthew…

"We can make this thing work, can't we?"

"You don't get to travel much, do you?"

"I travel for games but that's about it. How about you?"

"My traveling consists of running around London trying to find a brilliant story."

"Okay well let's just say we do make this happen. That we both commit to flying back and forth as much as we can."

"It can be doable, yes."

"But then let's say in six months we hit a wall. Like, I can't be away from work so often or the girls can't deal with you being gone constantly. Then we'll start to feel the tension because we know this isn't working so we start fighting because we don't know what else to do. So then after a long, tearful phone call we will just say goodbye. That'll be it because we won't ever bump into each other. But then what's left? Two miserable people feeling totally mashed up and hurt." Gilbert and I both sighed. "Or…"

Gilbert nodded. "Or is good."

"Or maybe we should realize that what we've these past few weeks has been perfect, and that maybe it doesn't get any better than this. Maybe we're just trying to figure this…thing out because it makes us feel good to feel this way. Maybe the fact that I'm leaving in eight-ish hours makes this way more exciting than it actually is. Maybe."

"Okay so maybe or isn't good. You know, you're seriously the most depressing person I've ever met! And this is coming from a person who knew Arthur during his punk days.

I sighed again. "I know."

Gilbert laughed. "I have another scenario for you."

"Wonderful."

"I'm in love with you." I instantly sat up in shock. "I apologize for this blunt delivery but as intricate as this fact may be, I am in love. With you. I want you to know that I'm not just feeling this because you're leaving. And not just because it feels good to feel this way, which it did before you went off like that. I can't figure out all of the mathematics of this, I just know that I love you and I can't believe how many times I'm saying it! I…I never thought I'd ever feel this way again, so this is pretty amazing. But I do realize that I come with a package deal: Three for the price of one. I also realize that in the light of day, perhaps my package isn't all that wonderful but I finally know what I want, and that is pretty damn amazing as well. And what I want is you, Matthew."

All I could do was stare at Gilbert in complete shock. He was in love? With _me_? "I…well, I certainly wasn't expecting 'I love you.'" The moment I said that, I could see the instant hurt look spread throughout Gilbert's facial feature. "Maple, Gil, can you please not look at me like that? I'm trying to find the proper thing to say."

Gilbert just swallowed and averted his eyes. "I'm pretty sure if the obvious response doesn't come to mind, you don't feel the same way. Now that I'm thinking about this, I do remember how you quite bluntly told me that you wouldn't fall in love with me. I should listen more, especially to you Birdie."

"Oh Gil." I sighed. "Gilbert, Gilbert, Gilbert. Whatever am I going to do to you?"

Gilbert smirked and locked my lips into another passionate kiss. "I think you should let me make love to you at least a couple more times before you go."

"Just for now," I whispered.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Don't they seem a little OOC? Isn't it wonderful! Again I have a headcanon for this. For Mattie-kins, it's that when he gets to know someone or is drunk, he's super feisty and sassy and witty and well, like me XD For Gil, it's that he really is adorable and sweet under all the "I am macho man give me sex" exterior that most people thing he has, and when he's with people he knows really well like his close friends or Eliza or Mattie, he is all soft and cuddly and..can someone just get me a Gilbert? Please?**

**Okay, moving on again from my weirdness. So this is the last chapter I wrote last night. I have one more to finish and then two more to write after that. Almost done guys!**

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	15. Old Flames Die Hard

{Chapter Fifteen: Arthur's POV}

Somehow, and for some amazing reason, I found myself on a date with Alfred. I wasn't sure if it technically was a date, but it felt more like one than the other times Alfred and I have gone out, either to get food or find more movies from Amelia's list. His breakup with Natalia may have been a major factor, but it also hung above him sometimes like a dark cloud ready to rain on anyone in its way.

I knew that I liked Alfred, but I also knew that neither of us was sure how he felt about me. We would exchange subtle glances, winks that would make the other blush, and would find ways so our hands would casually brush against the others. There would be slightly awkward moments where Alfred's hand would bump into my butt, and he could blush and call it an 'Accidental graze.' The more it happened, the less accidental it became. Then there would be moments like now, where Alfred would tell me something and casually put his arm around me while explaining something. I would blush and attempt to shove him off, but he would just laugh and firmly stay put.

I sighed as he refused to move his arm yet again. "So, love, Amelia has requested that you write lyrics for her theme…what's wrong?"

Alfred's eyes were glued to the caller id on his ringing cell phone. "It's Natalia."

"Answer it then!"

"Hello...I'm doing fine…Actually Natalia, I'm busy right now…Maybe…Well it'll take a while…I don't know, thirty minutes. Maybe longer…Okay fine."

I raised an eyebrow when he hung up. "What's wrong, love?"

"She misses me."

"See? She came to her senses. Smart girl."

"She wants me to come and see her."

I hesitated then smiled at him and nodded. "We should get the bill then."

"What? No! We just got here."

"Alfred listen to me. I wasted three years of my life for a moment like this. Take it while you still can, okay?"

Alfred sighed and kissed me on the forehead. "Okay. I'll be at the show as soon as I can." He looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead he turned around and left. I finished my glass of scotch with one swallow and got the bill. If Alfred wasn't here, what was the point in staying?

When I got back to the house, I pulled out the pages Francis sent me that had almost been forgotten. Just as I was about to start going over them I got a phone call. "Hello…Oh, Francis!..I'm just reading your pages…I've been busy, I didn't forget…What kind of surprise?...I don't see a box or anything…Of course I'm sure!...Fine, I'll go and check the kitchen…Nothing in there…I'll just go and check the gate…When did you send it?..." I opened the door and there he was, blond hair, blue eyes, everything I hoped to get over.

"I found your Christmas present," Francis said. I just stared at him in shock. "You are going to let me in, aren't you mon cher?" Cautiously I stepped aside and we walked into the kitchen. While in there, I attempted to ignore his presence as I poured him a glass of wine and me a glass of scotch. "You are you eventually going to look at me?" I took a deep breath and looked at him, but still avoiding his eyes. "Hello, Arthur."

"Hello," I whispered and attempted to smile. "Why did you come?"

"Oh, mon cher, I came here because I absolutely had to see you."

"Had to? Francis, I really don't understand. I was right there for three yes, remember? And now you have to see me? You, the one who said we…we didn't work. A square peg and a round hole."

"Now Arthur, I don't remember that. I just know that I hate that you've been gone. And that I've never checked my e-mails more. I wasn't hearing from you and that was driving me crazy! I don't want to lose you, chéri."

"Lose me?" I sighed. "This is too confusing, Francis."

"Please come here." Francis grabbed my hands and pulled me against him.

"You know, mon amour, when you get back to London we should sneak off somewhere together," Francis said. I smiled at him, and cuddled up even closer against him on the couch. Maybe it was finally my turn to have Francis come back to me.

"Oh Francis, do you mean that? Can you really do that?"

"Chéri, I just traveled halfway across the world to see you. Aren't I here with you, loving you right now?" Francis leant in to kiss me, which normally I would've been all for, but that wasn't what I was looking for as a response.

"That doesn't exactly answer my question. Are you not with Jeanne anymore? Is that what you've come here to tell me?"

Francis sighed. "I wish that you could just accept how confused I am about all this."

I raised an eyebrow. What in the world does that mean? "Okay let me see if I can translate that. So you are engaged to Jeanne, yes?"

Francis hesitated. "Well, yes, but—"

"Oh, my God." I instantly stood up and put as much space between us as I could. "This was a really close call. You know, I never thought I'd ever say this, but I think you were right about us. We don't fit!"

"You cannot really mean that."

"The wonderful thing is that I do! Now, I'm three years late in telling you this, but I'm going to tell you it anyway. Francis, you never treated me right."

"Oh bébé—"

"Shut it! You broke my heart, and acted like it was my fault. But because I was too in love with you, I was never mad at you so I punished myself! For years! So you ruining my lovely Christmas holiday and then telling me you don't want to lose me whilst you're about to get married newly entitles me to say that it's over. This twist, toxic thing between is finally finished! I'm phenomenally done being in love with you!" I laughed and practically shoved Francis to the door.

"What has gotten into you?" He asked as he stepped outside.

"I'm actually not too sure, but I think it's something resembling gumption." I let out a loud whoop as I shut the door. "Oh, my God. It's finally over!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know it's a kind of late update, but it's not yet 2015 for me yet. I have two more chapters and those should be on soon.**

**Ciao, Athineath~**


	16. The Show Goes On

{Chapter Sixteen: Arthur's POV}

"You look wonderful," I told Amelia when she opened the door.

"You don't look too bad yourself," she replied.

"Are you nervous?"

"To be honest, I am a little, but seeing you and Alfred in the audience…What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure if Alfred will be there."

"What happened?"

"He got a call from Natalia, she misses him and they had to talk tonight."

"Oh Arthur, I'm sorry."

"Whatever for?"

Amelia rolled her eyes. "Arthur, I'm surprised even someone as oblivious as Alfred didn't realize your feelings for him."

I just shrugged. "I think I should be away from love for a while. Let's just get to the Guild."

* * *

><p>"Arthur, what if I can't climb the steps?" Amelia asked me as we stood before the doors to the theatre.<p>

"You will, Amelia. I know you will," I assured her. Suddenly, the doors were opened and Amelia stood in shock at the amount of people. The whole theatre was filled to the brim with people standing, clapping, and cheering her on. We could see Madeline, Mathias, and who I assumed to be Lukas standing at the end of the aisle looking proud of their friend. Amelia squeezing my hand and I looked to find her crying.

"Oh, my Lord. Tell me I'm not dreaming, Arthur. Please tell me."

"No Amelia, you most certainly aren't dreaming." Amelia and I walked down the aisle, her crying and me smiling proudly even though I've only known her for a couple of weeks. When we stopped in front of the steps to the stage, I gave Amelia's hand a squeeze and walked to my seat in the front next to Madeline.

"Alice would've been so proud of her," Madeline told me.

I nodded. "I bet she is."

Amelia looked over to us from the bottom of the stairs and smiled at someone on the other side, then at me, and then walked up the stairs. "I am absolutely overwhelmed," she said into the microphone and pointed at the steps. "That I could climb those!" The whole crowd burst into laughter.

"She is absolutely amazing," someone whispered next to me. I gasped and turned to find myself looking at Alfred. So that's who Amelia was looking at!

"Alfred!" I exclaimed in a whisper. "You came!"

"Of course I came, and you know what the best part is? Natalia and I are all over."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm wonderful! She's not the love of my life, who I thought she was and now I think I know who is. So anyway Arthur, what are you doing for New Year's Eve?"

"I'll be back in England; in fact I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Huh, we'll I've never been to England. I've never been to Europe in general."

"Really?"

"Yup. So if I followed you to England, would you like to go out with me on New Year's Eve?" _Oh, so was Alfred then talking about me?_

Taking another step of courage thanks to my newly acquired gumption, I decided to lean over and kiss Alfred smack on the lips. "I would love to." I closed my eyes and smiled, and when I opened my eyes I could see Alfred throw his fist in the air.

{Matthew's POV}

"Do you have everything for your flight?" Gilbert asked.

"Yeah, I think so," I replied. "Gil—"

"Matthew, we'll see each other. We'll make this work."

"You're right. We will." I pulled him in for a chaste kiss as the taxi pulled up outside the gate. "Be seeing you."

"Be seeing you."

* * *

><p>In the taxi, something felt wrong. I double checked to make sure I had my boarding pass and my passport, but I still felt like I was forgetting something. All I could think about was… "Oh, my God!" I exclaimed.<p>

"What's wrong, sir? Did you forget something?"

I nodded. "Yes, yes I did. Turn around, please turn around."

"Sir, I can't. There is nowhere to turn around right now."

"Never mind, just stop." When he stopped, I opened the door and like the crazy person I am, I ran back to the cottage and back to Gilbert. "Gil!" I called when I through open the door.

"Mattie?" Gilbert asked and I met him in the kitchen. "Why—"

"I know you didn't formally invite me out for New Year's, but you did say you loved me so I'm thinking I have a date."

"I have the girls New Year's."

"That's perfect for me. I would love it, and Gil, I love you too."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: One chapter and ten minutes left.**

**Ciao, Athineath**


	17. Welcome Back

{Chapter Seventeen: Normal POV}

"Hello my lovelies," Arthur said to Alisa and Lili as he and Alfred entered Gilbert's home.

"Hi Uncle Arthur!" They both exclaimed. Gilbert laughed and picked Alisa up into his arms and Matthew picked up Lili.

"What took you guys so long?" Gilbert asked. He laughed when Arthur and Alfred blushed in response. "I think we have our answer."

"Ten," someone on the TV said.

"Nine," everyone said together. "Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!"

Both couples welcomed the new year with a loving kiss as both Alisa and Lili giggled and pretended to avert their eyes. The past year had been hard for all four of them, but they knew that the next one they would all spend happily together with healed, and loved hearts


	18. Thank You!

Hi everyone! I am absolutely astonished...that I finished this fanfiction XD I hope you all enjoyed my Hetaliafied version of "The Holiday". This isn't an epilogue, just a thank you.

Thank you to my reviewers: Dawnie Otaku and Rebylee.

Thank you to the people who favourited this: Dawnie Otaku, Rebylee, elleraine08, and sunheart of rushclan.

Thank you to the people who followed this: Dawnie Otaku, Fred and George Weasley Twins, Paint-The-World-Mad, Rebylee, Shadow fairy princess, WhatEverIEndUpCallingMyself, alovinggirl, and spiritualnekohime4.

And of course, a thank you to everyone who read this!

You all are wonderful and make writing worth it, even more so than just using writing as my therapy.

Most of y'all probably do not know this, but I usually make a playlist of songs to go along with my chapters to help me get in the mood a little better. I decided to tell y'all what songs I chose for this fanfic and y'all can then listen to them if you'd like.

Chapter One: Love is Blindness by Jack White

Chapter Two: Stupid by Kacey Musgraves

Chapter Three: Problem by Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea

Chapter Four: Begin Again by Taylor Swift

Chapter Five: Let's Kill Tonight by Panic! At the Disco

Chapter Six: Love Somebody by Maroon 5

Chapter Seven: Life In Color by OneRepublic

Chapter Eight: Two Pieces by Demi Lovato

Chapter Nine: How to Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds

Chapter Ten: Near to You by A Fine Frenzy

Chapter Eleven: Unbreakable by Fireflight

Chapter Twelve: Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy

Chapter Thirteen: Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain) by Gary Allan

Chapter Fourteen: Daylight by Maroon 5

Chapter Fifteen: The Last Time by Taylor Swift feat. Gary Lightbody

Chapter Sixteen: On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons

Chapter Seventeen: Wonderful by Janet Devlin

So yeah, I have an eclectic taste in music but that's because my parents listen to all genres of music. I don't really have a favourite but I do enjoy Alternative the most and also 40s era/style music, especially Vera Lynn.

This is the end, The Holiday is finally over just in time because the holiday season is also officially over.

I hope everyone has a fantastic 2015 and look out for any of my other fanfics. I'll be updating The Prince and the Frog soon!

Ciao, Athineath~


End file.
